Thank you, everyone, for your positive responses and encouragement.
Oh, I forgot to mention that we received David's GKTW "wish child" button on Monday at check-in.
Here's what happened on Tuesday, 8/16/05 .....
We awoke around 7a.m. The plan was to eat breakfast at the Gingerbread House Restaurant, then go to Universal Studios.
Tuesday's breakfast consisted of the following .....
Fresh Fruit, Bagels, Scrambled Eggs, Fried Potatoes, French Toast Sticks, Yogurt, Pancakes, Bacon, Ham, Biscuits, Sausage Gravy, melted Cheese Sauce (tastes great on scrambled eggs), salsa, and Mushrooms.
After filling up on breakfast, we made our way to Universal Studios. The directions given in the previously mentioned "bunny book" were very accurate.
At the parking entrance to Universal, we submitted our parking pass (per directions given at orientation) and were directed to the reserved/handicap parking lot. The parking structure at Universal is absolutely gigantic in size. Realizing this, we made note of our parking area .... King Kong 312. Luckily, we used the "moving walkways", because it seemed to take about 15-20 minutes just to get to what we THOUGHT was the entrance of Universal Studios. We were wrong. We still had to walk about another 200 yards, past shops and restaurants, to get to the park entrance. David was ALREADY starting to get worn out from all of the walking, and he used every moving walkway.
Arriving at the park entrance, we submitted our complimentary tickets without any hassle and proceded to Guest Services to get our free stroller (upon presentation of David's GKTW button). At Guest Services, the employee printed us a ticket for a complimentary stroller rental and directed us across the main "drag" to stroller rental. After finally getting our double stroller, we were on our way.
First stop was a ride featuring Jimmy Neutron. We parked our stroller and proceded to the first employee at that ride. Upon presentation of our GAC, we were immediately directed to a side entrance and ushered to the front of the ride area about 1 minute later. The Jimmy Neutron "ride" was fun. You buckle yourself in, and the ride moves up and down (maybe side to side), but doesn't go forward.
Next stop... Shrek. We got the same quick and friendly response from the attending employee at THAT attraction. This really wasn't a ride. It was more of an experience with 3-D glasses.
Next stop? DW thought Twister would be fun. DW and I goofed thinking that the children would like this one. Robert is extremely afraid of storms (David is not much better), so this did not go well for us, to say the least.
Next stop? DW suggested on JAWS. You guessed it.... both children crying.
Next stop? DW thought ET! would be okay ..... no .... I reasoned with her that 3 scary suggestions in a row would NOT be good. She relented and suggested the Barney show. Now, since you don't know David, you need to understand one thing..... David was (until this trip) deathly afraid of "characters". (We've been to Disney before and the last time, he would either cover his eyes or hide under a table if he saw a "character". This is AFTER even telling him the truth .... that characters are just people in costume.) I cringed, but agreed. We were ushered to the front of the line, as usual, and, after a "pre-amble" to the show, sat in the second row. We were told at that time to wait after the show because Barney wanted to visit with David. It was a wonderful show, although David (not unexpectedly) hid under the bench while Barney, Baby Bop, and PJ were on stage. At the end of the show, Barney went to pose for pictures with most of the show audience in another room. Our family, and another "wish" family were directed to stay seated. Out comes, you guessed it, ANOTHER Barney, followed by Baby Bop and PJ. David was afraid, to say the least. However, after a bit of encouragement by Barney, David walked up to Barney to give him a hug. While walking up to Barney, nn a perfect New Jersey accent (which David has never had or used before), David says, "I love you Barney". DW and I just looked at each other quizzically. We both thought, "I can't believe he said that and where did the Jersey accent come from?" Anyway, it turned out to be a wonderful experience for David with "characters", one which we built on throughout the week.
Next stop? A small break. Robert went to a kiddie play area with a water slide. He wasn't dressed for it, but he didn't care. While he was doing that (under my supervision), Karen and David saw the Mystery Van (with Scooby-Doo and Shaggy) pull up. They strolled toward the van and, of course, a long line quickly formed for autographs and pictures. David walked around the van and directly in front Scooby-Doo and Shaggy .... right in front of everyone else waiting. DW was mortified (actually, so were some of the other guests), but Shaggy was great ..... letting David get his picture taken with Shaggy and Scooby by the Universal Studios staff (good thing he saw Barney earlier).
Next stop? A kiddie roller coaster ride. David was afraid, so Robert and I used the GAC and went on it. It was fun, especially for Robert. 15-20 minutes later, after a quick break, David wanted to go on the roller coaster. I didn't, so DW took the children.
We then thought we would head toward the exit, as it was about 3pm and the children were EXHAUSTED. As we were thinking about leaving, Karen went to Guest Services. You see, when David had his picture taken with Scooby and Shaggy, Karen was given a "card" that gave her the picture #. She could then turn it in and, ostensibly, buy one or several pictures of this "momentous" event. Well, Karen was given some great news .... that "wish" children were entitled to a FREE 5X7 picture! The bad part was that the picture would not be ready for another 30-45 minutes. With time to waste.....
Next stop? Back to the Jimmy Neutron ride! Again we had fun.
We then got the picture, turned in our stroller, and walked back to our car.
In the Universal part of this report, I did NOT mention the many melt-downs that David had. Every ride "dumps" you to a souvenir store. David and Robert, but mostly David, were constantly (as children do) whining about "really needing" this toy or that toy. David had about 30 minutes of melt-downs during our time at Universal. On a positive note, I have to say the the Universal staff were very cordial to our family. Whenever we presented our GAC, the staff when out of their way to make David AND Robert feel special.
One more thing about Universal. Since we are members of AAA insurance, we got discounts on all of our merchandise (I think 10%).
Arriving back to GKTW was fun. No sooner had we pulled into our "driveway" (which each villa has), when a golf-cart driven by 2 women pulled up and asked if we wanted lemonade and cookies. What a wonderful gesture. Good food for the stomach, and the soul.
Dinner was next on the list of things to do.
Along with the Salad Bar, and Dessert, here is what was available.
Soup, Ravioli, Spaghetti, Meatballs, Dinner Rolls, Chicken Nuggets, French Fries, and Vegetables.
We were half-way through our meal when Mayor Clayton and Miss Mary arrived. Understand, Mayor Clayton and Miss Mary are just characters (bunnies, of course). David finished his meal underneath the dinner table, afraid of the characters (I mistakenly thought he was cured of the Character "issue".)
Next on our list at GKTW? A visit with Sponge Bob Square Pants at the Castle of Miracles. Robert liked it, but David (surprise, surprise) did not want anything to do with this. Robert had his picture taken with Sponge Bob, while David hid elsewhere in the Castle. Finally, DW offered David a bribe he could not resist..... if he had his picture taken with Sponge Bob, then DW would let him have at least 3 rides on the carousel. Done deal! David, however, would not touch Sponge Bob. In fact, David was on the opposite side of Sponge Bob in the picture.
While David and DW went to the carousel, Robert and I went to the arcade at "Amberville", a magnificient building named after a former visitor/guest of GKTW, Amber (this child later passed away). All free, the arcade was fun. Robert played a video game he had never seen .... GASP.... Ms. Pac-Man. Needless to say, I had a chuckle or two about this.
After the arcade, Robert and I made our way to the Ice Cream Palace. I got a strawberry sundae (with real strawberry preserves, not the "jelly" served at most places) and a Coke, while Robert got Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream, and a Sprite. After walking back with the ice cream to the villa, Karen thought that sounded good ..... so .... back to the Ice Cream Palace to get Karen a hot fudge sundae and Coke (David doesn't really like ice cream).
Tuesday was done, and we tried to rest for Wednesday.
Another long post, sorry. I'll post the Wednesday report on Sunday evening.
Until next time .....
Dave
P.S.: If you need any other specific question about that days' activity offerings at GKTW, send me a PM. It's just not possible to do everything at GKTW AND go to the parks.
Oh, I forgot to mention that we received David's GKTW "wish child" button on Monday at check-in.
Here's what happened on Tuesday, 8/16/05 .....
We awoke around 7a.m. The plan was to eat breakfast at the Gingerbread House Restaurant, then go to Universal Studios.
Tuesday's breakfast consisted of the following .....
Fresh Fruit, Bagels, Scrambled Eggs, Fried Potatoes, French Toast Sticks, Yogurt, Pancakes, Bacon, Ham, Biscuits, Sausage Gravy, melted Cheese Sauce (tastes great on scrambled eggs), salsa, and Mushrooms.
After filling up on breakfast, we made our way to Universal Studios. The directions given in the previously mentioned "bunny book" were very accurate.
At the parking entrance to Universal, we submitted our parking pass (per directions given at orientation) and were directed to the reserved/handicap parking lot. The parking structure at Universal is absolutely gigantic in size. Realizing this, we made note of our parking area .... King Kong 312. Luckily, we used the "moving walkways", because it seemed to take about 15-20 minutes just to get to what we THOUGHT was the entrance of Universal Studios. We were wrong. We still had to walk about another 200 yards, past shops and restaurants, to get to the park entrance. David was ALREADY starting to get worn out from all of the walking, and he used every moving walkway.
Arriving at the park entrance, we submitted our complimentary tickets without any hassle and proceded to Guest Services to get our free stroller (upon presentation of David's GKTW button). At Guest Services, the employee printed us a ticket for a complimentary stroller rental and directed us across the main "drag" to stroller rental. After finally getting our double stroller, we were on our way.
First stop was a ride featuring Jimmy Neutron. We parked our stroller and proceded to the first employee at that ride. Upon presentation of our GAC, we were immediately directed to a side entrance and ushered to the front of the ride area about 1 minute later. The Jimmy Neutron "ride" was fun. You buckle yourself in, and the ride moves up and down (maybe side to side), but doesn't go forward.
Next stop... Shrek. We got the same quick and friendly response from the attending employee at THAT attraction. This really wasn't a ride. It was more of an experience with 3-D glasses.
Next stop? DW thought Twister would be fun. DW and I goofed thinking that the children would like this one. Robert is extremely afraid of storms (David is not much better), so this did not go well for us, to say the least.
Next stop? DW suggested on JAWS. You guessed it.... both children crying.
Next stop? DW thought ET! would be okay ..... no .... I reasoned with her that 3 scary suggestions in a row would NOT be good. She relented and suggested the Barney show. Now, since you don't know David, you need to understand one thing..... David was (until this trip) deathly afraid of "characters". (We've been to Disney before and the last time, he would either cover his eyes or hide under a table if he saw a "character". This is AFTER even telling him the truth .... that characters are just people in costume.) I cringed, but agreed. We were ushered to the front of the line, as usual, and, after a "pre-amble" to the show, sat in the second row. We were told at that time to wait after the show because Barney wanted to visit with David. It was a wonderful show, although David (not unexpectedly) hid under the bench while Barney, Baby Bop, and PJ were on stage. At the end of the show, Barney went to pose for pictures with most of the show audience in another room. Our family, and another "wish" family were directed to stay seated. Out comes, you guessed it, ANOTHER Barney, followed by Baby Bop and PJ. David was afraid, to say the least. However, after a bit of encouragement by Barney, David walked up to Barney to give him a hug. While walking up to Barney, nn a perfect New Jersey accent (which David has never had or used before), David says, "I love you Barney". DW and I just looked at each other quizzically. We both thought, "I can't believe he said that and where did the Jersey accent come from?" Anyway, it turned out to be a wonderful experience for David with "characters", one which we built on throughout the week.
Next stop? A small break. Robert went to a kiddie play area with a water slide. He wasn't dressed for it, but he didn't care. While he was doing that (under my supervision), Karen and David saw the Mystery Van (with Scooby-Doo and Shaggy) pull up. They strolled toward the van and, of course, a long line quickly formed for autographs and pictures. David walked around the van and directly in front Scooby-Doo and Shaggy .... right in front of everyone else waiting. DW was mortified (actually, so were some of the other guests), but Shaggy was great ..... letting David get his picture taken with Shaggy and Scooby by the Universal Studios staff (good thing he saw Barney earlier).
Next stop? A kiddie roller coaster ride. David was afraid, so Robert and I used the GAC and went on it. It was fun, especially for Robert. 15-20 minutes later, after a quick break, David wanted to go on the roller coaster. I didn't, so DW took the children.
We then thought we would head toward the exit, as it was about 3pm and the children were EXHAUSTED. As we were thinking about leaving, Karen went to Guest Services. You see, when David had his picture taken with Scooby and Shaggy, Karen was given a "card" that gave her the picture #. She could then turn it in and, ostensibly, buy one or several pictures of this "momentous" event. Well, Karen was given some great news .... that "wish" children were entitled to a FREE 5X7 picture! The bad part was that the picture would not be ready for another 30-45 minutes. With time to waste.....
Next stop? Back to the Jimmy Neutron ride! Again we had fun.
We then got the picture, turned in our stroller, and walked back to our car.
In the Universal part of this report, I did NOT mention the many melt-downs that David had. Every ride "dumps" you to a souvenir store. David and Robert, but mostly David, were constantly (as children do) whining about "really needing" this toy or that toy. David had about 30 minutes of melt-downs during our time at Universal. On a positive note, I have to say the the Universal staff were very cordial to our family. Whenever we presented our GAC, the staff when out of their way to make David AND Robert feel special.
One more thing about Universal. Since we are members of AAA insurance, we got discounts on all of our merchandise (I think 10%).
Arriving back to GKTW was fun. No sooner had we pulled into our "driveway" (which each villa has), when a golf-cart driven by 2 women pulled up and asked if we wanted lemonade and cookies. What a wonderful gesture. Good food for the stomach, and the soul.
Dinner was next on the list of things to do.
Along with the Salad Bar, and Dessert, here is what was available.
Soup, Ravioli, Spaghetti, Meatballs, Dinner Rolls, Chicken Nuggets, French Fries, and Vegetables.
We were half-way through our meal when Mayor Clayton and Miss Mary arrived. Understand, Mayor Clayton and Miss Mary are just characters (bunnies, of course). David finished his meal underneath the dinner table, afraid of the characters (I mistakenly thought he was cured of the Character "issue".)
Next on our list at GKTW? A visit with Sponge Bob Square Pants at the Castle of Miracles. Robert liked it, but David (surprise, surprise) did not want anything to do with this. Robert had his picture taken with Sponge Bob, while David hid elsewhere in the Castle. Finally, DW offered David a bribe he could not resist..... if he had his picture taken with Sponge Bob, then DW would let him have at least 3 rides on the carousel. Done deal! David, however, would not touch Sponge Bob. In fact, David was on the opposite side of Sponge Bob in the picture.
While David and DW went to the carousel, Robert and I went to the arcade at "Amberville", a magnificient building named after a former visitor/guest of GKTW, Amber (this child later passed away). All free, the arcade was fun. Robert played a video game he had never seen .... GASP.... Ms. Pac-Man. Needless to say, I had a chuckle or two about this.
After the arcade, Robert and I made our way to the Ice Cream Palace. I got a strawberry sundae (with real strawberry preserves, not the "jelly" served at most places) and a Coke, while Robert got Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream, and a Sprite. After walking back with the ice cream to the villa, Karen thought that sounded good ..... so .... back to the Ice Cream Palace to get Karen a hot fudge sundae and Coke (David doesn't really like ice cream).
Tuesday was done, and we tried to rest for Wednesday.
Another long post, sorry. I'll post the Wednesday report on Sunday evening.
Until next time .....
Dave
P.S.: If you need any other specific question about that days' activity offerings at GKTW, send me a PM. It's just not possible to do everything at GKTW AND go to the parks.
